The Mad Trapper * By- Rudy Wiebe

PowerPoint by Daniel Walker

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The Mad Trapper was a very mysterious man. He rode into Fort McPherson on a small log raft. He was a very silent man and barely responded when asked questions. He only ever talked when he had to. He possessed a large quantity of money. More than most had ever seen up north. The Mad Trapper was better known as Albert Johnson. Albert Johnson was the cousin to Karl Erickson but when Karl seen The Mad Trapper’s corpse he did not recognize the man. The Mad Trapper’s identity is still unknown to this day. He was a medium height, broad shouldered man who had icy blue eyes and generally kept himself clean shaven. He had ended up crossing hundreds of miles of frozen tundra on foot, survived dynamite blasts, and became the first man to cross the Richardson Mountains in a blizzard and he didn’t even have climbing gear. He endured the chase of police, trappers and the army for fifty days in the bitter cold.

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Corporal Millen was an R.C.M.P officer who was stationed up at Fort McPherson. Spike was tall and lean with shoulders like a weight lifter. Spike patrolled the trappers lines every once in a while. He was one of the many on the manhunt for Albert Johnson. He eventually developed a weird obsession for the manhunt. Spike was the last person killed by the mad trapper in the shoot out which also took Johnson’s life on Eagle River.

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Wop is a stocky, round-faced man known for being an air ace of WWI. He was fifth for kills in Canada. He is also known for being chased by The Red Baron as he got shot down. Wop wanted to become better known and seen that hunting down Johnson would be the perfect opportunity. Wop was the one who pointed out that there were footprints leading off of the caribou tracks which led the search right to Albert Johnson where the final shootout had taken place.

Character Event

How reacted to Event

How they changed

Albert Johnson

Albert’s cabin got blown up because he shot an R.C.M.P Officer

Ran away into the cold winter north.

Albert ended up very weak from the man hunt and frost bitten. He was starving and in the end he got shot down.

Spike Millen

Albert Johnson He started on the Running away manhunt for Johnson. after his cabin got blown up.

Wop May The manhunt for Albert Johnson

He wanted to get involved so he can become better known since not many knew his name for being and air ace in WWI.

When the manhunt started Spike was a bit hesitant but as it went on he started getting obsessed with it. In the end Spike died after Albert Johnson shot him.

Not much changed for Wop May. He became more known for flying the plane to help track down Johnson. It really sped up the search.

Movie Rolls

Chuck Norris as The Mad Trapper

I Would have to choose Chuck Norris for the part of Albert Johnson. Chuck is well built and can portray a tough man very well. Chuck has the endurance and could easily pull off being a quite, mysterious man who tests his strength to the fullest.

Who else would be able to survive out in the freezing cold for fifty days, climb mountains in blizzards, survive explosions and evade a manhunt for as long as Albert Johnson. The only problem with chuck being the mad trapper is Chuck Norris doesn’t run away.

I believe that Tom Cruise would be a great actor for Spike Millen. Tom is well built and can portray the attitude of not giving up . Spike led the manhunt and Tom can easily take the roll of a leader. Tom has acted in movies like Mission Impossible and War of the Worlds.

Tom Hanks as Wop May  For Wop May I think Tom

hanks would be a great actor. Hanks has acted in movies where he was a war hero and he is great at it. He fits the description well would be a great actor for a guy who is just looking for fame. Tom has acted in movies like Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan.

Steve Carell as Inspector Eames  Inspector Eames was the

man Spike Millen answered to. Eames is the one who gave permission for the search warrant to search Albert Johnson’s cabin. I believe Steve Carell would be great for this part as he has acted many office workers. Steve would also be able to toss a little comedy into this movie. He has acted in movies such as The Anchor Man and Evan Almighty.

•“The autumn sun was almost gone behind the Richardson Mountains. Its last light

flamed against an underbelly of clouds, polished the water of the Peel River into uneasy boils of glistening black and vivid, almost bloody, red. Distant sounds drifted by: geese flying south, water lapping against rocks, but over all lay the immense Arctic silence of the coming winter.” Pg. 11 •“The rim of the thirty-minute winter sun emerged on the south horizon sometimes inside an enormous halo of smudged, flaming light; sometimes a cross stretches through and across the entire circle, or, like today, two brilliant repetitions of the sun itself stood one on either side of the bands of the cross with the air so cold it seemed to hang in silver crystals.” Pg. 75 •“The glazed surface of the snow was rushing at them; May’s knees held the plane relentlessly with its dive centered on Johnson. Snardon was bolted rigid in his seat, his mouth a hole of soundless terror.” Pg. 186 •“The ice split. One great sheet of thin ice heaving both up and down as Thompson staggered, lost his balance in and immense boil of black water bursting up around him and he fell, head and shoulders plunging down and then his snowshoes gesturing desperately for an instant, and everything gone.” Pg. 121

“When the blizzard staggered, momentarily eddied into daylight and, as it seemed, caught its breath, he would sometimes glance up to see the peaks about him: the enormous vista of groaning, moving snow, the ravines and the iceblasted pyramids that howled dolefully as the blizzard shook itself and howled, howled.” Pg. 144

 For the climax I would have to say it was the shootout on

the Eagle River. The whole story builds up to this very point where Spike Millen comes face to face with The Mad Trapper again. Spike was killed by Albert Johnson and it took quite a few bullets to take down Johnson. Albert even shot at the plane above and wouldn’t go down without a fight. When they finally think he is killed they approach slowly. This is where they discover that The Mad Trapper is not Albert Johnson.  If The Mad Trapper hadn’t sabotaged those traps the police wouldn’t have bothered him and the entire manhunt wouldn’t have taken place. I think The Mad Trapper had done something illegal and was paranoid that the R.C.M.P had discovered his past but in reality his identity was a mystery and still is.

 The entire manhunt would be a

conflict of The Mad Trapper Vs. The R.C.M.P. Many people were in the manhunt for the Mad Trapper. 2 people were killed during this hunt. It took many days and a lot of money to finally track down Johnson. •Their solution: The R.C.M.P Finally tracked down Johnson and killed him. •They could have handled this differently by just letting Albert get away. At the time when they blew up his cabin there was only an injured R.C.M.P officer. They could have saved 2 lives and a lot of money by just letting him wander into the cold north.

 The Mad Trapper, I would have to say it is the perfect

title for the book. It is simple yet strong. At the time of the hunt the radios called him by The Mad Trapper. It would be hard to title it otherwise as his identity is unknown. It fits the book perfect as it is the story of The Mad Trapper and how lived his last few days.